The grouse and flash...a fly I did a post on not long ago. Just to let you know I have been fishing it and it's been getting it done. I have also been doing a bit of experimenting with a variation of this fly. I use a peacock body, with a rib of black holographic tinsel as well as a wrap or two of grouse hackle. The fly has worked very well when fished. A bit of an oddity though, when this fly is allowed to just sit on the bottom of the stream it is taken very viciously.
A very hard worked soft-hackle.
The grouse and flash seems to work better on bright days. This is true on the brookie streams I fish.
Soft-hackle dry flies...
That is an odd bit about them taking the fly while laying on the bottom. I would guess the hackle is still moving like a bug crawling across the bottom.
ReplyDeletebillp
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Bill it's odd but not unheard of. I once had a soft-hackle lie almost motionless in a gentile current. I saw a brookie swim up to it and stop and stare at it. 20 seconds passed and it remained fixed on that fly then he whacked it.
It may catch fish but not much fun, imo.
ReplyDeleteJohn Dornik
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John your probably right, but when one tires of catching fish a change of pace is welcomed.
Have you ever had "Makowiec"?
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DeleteOh for sure Alan, my mother would make it along with Pascha (aka Bobka) at Easter time (also known as Pascha / Orthodox christians). Our Easter (old calendar) usually later but sometimes falls together at same date.
DeleteJohn,
DeleteInteresting. I love bobka too. There are many varieties of it but I like lots of raisins in mine.
The Makowiec I get from a Polish bakery in Vernon.
Always amazes me how a "sparce" fly can attract fish.
ReplyDeleteMark Kautz
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Mark most of what a trout eats is quite small. It's tough to get ourselves focused on that.
The grouse and flash will always be a favorite. I like the new variation. That first fish looks like she has already done her job this fall.
ReplyDeleteRM Lytle
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Rowan I think the peacock is a good addition.
True on the hen. She is now putting on the feed bag.
Alan, I look at that grouse and flash and stone fly comes to my mind. Sitting on the bottom maybe the trout think it is a stone fly nymph. A great looking fly that has a very buggy appeal to it.
ReplyDeleteBest, Sam
Sam
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Sam the original pattern, the one in the first photo was tied to represent a caddis. The one tied with peacock could be a stonefly. Both patterns are simple and effective.
Speaking of caddis, Alan, I was witness one evening a couple of weeks ago to a good hatch of October caddis. They were as orange as could be and appeared more so the darker it got. The trout couldn't make much use of them though as they mostly just flew around, seldom touching the water and only briefly at that. I heard a big splash down stream of my position, maybe a trout trying to snatch one out of the air.
DeleteSam, in all my years of fishing I have never seen an October caddis. They say they are a large insect. Trout will go airborn for a fly.
DeleteOrange, what a fitting color for October.
Alan, they were about a #14, some may have been a bit larger though. I have only fished this river section for a few years, but I don't recall seeing them before this year. They were quite abundant at times. I wonder if they fall in the water when they are done like a spinner fall. If so, the trout would make good use of them then.
DeleteSam I tied up a few large caddis with a wood duck wing and a long partridge hackle. The fly was light colored and was a good producer when called into service.
DeleteSee photo at bottom.
Beautiful "flash" fly Alan!
ReplyDeleteHibernation
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Will the flies are attention grabbers.
Alan,
ReplyDeleteI too am impressed with your Grouse and Flash! It seems to glow from within! Very will tied! Sparse, simple....how much better can it get! Mark K. mentioned above how sparse flies almost always out perform heavier (as far as materials goes) offerings. I wholeheartedly agree!
Dougsden
Dougsden
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Doug come colder months the small flies will take many fish, and so will the big ones for that matter. Just have to know which one they want and when.
Alan
ReplyDeleteI'm in on any soft hackle fly you tie--they produce-----thanks for sharing
Bill Trussell
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Bill soft-hackle are alive in the water. Most fish can't resist them.